The Big Picture

• David Fincher discusses the process of restoring Se7en for the film's 8K remaster.
• Fincher explains that they had to decide what to fix and what to keep in order to maintain the qualities fans love about the film.
• Warner Bros. is slated to release a 4K Blu-Ray of Se7en on May 3.

One of director David Fincher's most beloved films has to be Se7en. The director recently discussed restoring the neo-noir film in 8K for its recent 4K premiere on the IMAX screen of The Chinese Theatre. Based on his comments, it sounds as if Fincher has heightened what makes Seven so special in the first place. Fincher reunited with some frequent collaborators in order to make this restoration possible. Peter Mavromates, who frequently oversees post-production on Fincher's films, scanned the original camera negative of the film and placed it into 8K. Special effects and color corrections were also rendered in 8K, though they needed to be toned down to 4K.

Here's what Fincher had to say regarding remastering the film in 8K in an interview with IndieWire:

"It is what it is, warts and all. And some of it is spectacular and some of it is stuff that I would change or fix today, but I didn't want to mess with that. There's a lot of imperfections, there's a lot of things that you just don't see on film. When people say they love the look of film, what they're talking about is chaos, entropy, and softness. Now, of course, we live in an HDR world where you get those kinds of very deep, rich, velvety blacks for free. And we had to negotiate what to fix or not. So we attempted to go back in and fix to make it match. And kind of repaint stuff and just take out water spots and little edge flashes. And some if it is impossible to get it to match, certainly by today's standards. So there was a lot of excavation."

'Se7en' Is a "Volumetric Capture" of 1995

It's crystal clear that Fincher knows what he's talking about based on his comments. As a director, there has to be a fine line that comes with restoring previous films, especially ones made nearly 30 years ago. Fincher undoubtedly has an eye and a knack for what makes his films work, as well as why they work. He also highlighted how Se7en is "a volumetric capture" of the cast at that point in their careers, namely Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey.

Warner Bros. is slated to release a 4K Blu-Ray of Se7en on May 3. Fincher confirmed this news last year. While not all of the attention to detail that Mavromates and Fincher provided on their restoration will be realized in the format, fans will surely be excited to see a touched-up take on this classic film. Fincher's remarks will likely be realized by watchers, even if on a much smaller television screen.

What Is 'Se7en' About?

For those who have yet to watch Seven, it's a film that should certainly be added to the top of your watch list. Pitt and Freeman star as a detective duo, tasked with tracking down serial killer John Doe (Spacey). Doe's murders are particularly gruesome, drawing inspiration from the seven deadly sins. Paltrow stars as Pitt's character's wife, Tracy. The iconic line, "What's in the box?," comes from Se7en.

Se7en is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.

Watch on Prime Video